Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel Martinelli is in contention to face Brighton and Hove Albion at the weekend, following his midweek absence through illness.

With Arsenal set to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, manager Mikel Arteta held a press conference on Friday to discuss the latest updates on his team.

Arteta had mixed news to report on his squad’s availability, with Gabriel Martinelli seemingly set to return after an illness, but Mohamed Elneny out of action for the time being – albeit not for long.

“Martinelli is feeling good,” Arteta began. “We have no other news apart from Mo. Mo had to be subbed because he felt something with his hamstring.

“We did a scan and it doesn’t look too serious so he’s going to be with us I think very soon, which is good news as well.”

There was no update on Bukayo Saka, who missed training ahead of the game against PSV Eindhoven with a foot problem, but who was then on the bench for the match.

It’s not clear whether Saka is completely over the problem, and the hope is that no news is good news in this case.

Reiss Nelson played well against PSV before he reportedly “felt something” during the match. Arteta gave that update on Tuesday, but he suggested on Friday that the winger was just “cramping”.

Other than that, the injury absentees are the same as usual. Long-term absentees Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey are still out, and Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu aren’t expected back until the new year.